The community consultation conundrum

When doing something for the community, the community should be involved. In the ideal world, all interested and affected stakeholders would be involved and contribute to the overall management and well-being of the community. But sometimes the world isn’t ideal. Even...

Dancing stones in the organelle of choice

Science and I had started to drift apart. It was all my doing, or lack of doing, as the case was. It wasn’t that I’d intentionally turned my back on her, I’d just been spending more time with someone else, Social Media. While he was demanding, Science patiently...

Forgetfulness and memory fixes

I recall a television commercial that summed up my understanding of memory loss. Ironically, I remember the ad but not the product it was trying to sell. The ad was a parody of how we remember things. It was set within a person’s brain. In a dimly lit room, a...

Ethics and advocates of fear

For many years now I have been teaching a tree risk assessment course. It’s a structured course with modules and sections laid out in a logical teaching order that is not my own. It’s a great course and I have fun teaching it. Each time I start, I give the class a...

The art of management

I have just taken on a new job, and the new job has ‘manager’ in the title. I have become the Tree Services Manager for a local utility company. It’s a great position, in a great company and I’m enjoying the role, but what I find interesting is the concept of...